Yo folks! Been busy playing Mass Effect 3, filling out some brackets for the NCAA. I could go on about which #12 seed I think can make it to the Sweet 16, but I’ll just move on with the review of Nakata Sae’s arc, as narrated by the great Nakata Jouji.

Part 1: Doubt

It’s been 10 months since Junichi and Sae hooked up in SS. They still seem to be getting along nice, making animal pr0n films. Sae’s shyness has kind of gone away, now being able to talk with people without that bit of fear she had before she met Junichi, though big dogs still scare her.

Big dog just wants some Sae love, too

Girls will talk and drop plenty of hints about things they like, from food and favorite color and all that. A more focused man pays attention and takes advantage of those hints while for Junichi, it all goes in one ear and out the right since he’s overthinking how to get the public to realize in a subtle way that he and Sae are dating. He’s saved twice, once by Kaoru’s who just chooses what she likes, and a cafeteria lady who pays attention to what dressing Sae likes.

They go to a shrine, they make a wish. Junichi wonders what Sae wished for but she won’t tell.

So like, wait up? There’s going to be a marriage meetup? Meta’s own Kyokai dealt with something similar just recently, so why does Sae have to do this? In classic Miya fashion, she misunderstands what Sae said earlier. Turns out it’s just dogs meeting up and playing around. Some good comes out of it as Junichi gets to see her in a yukata. I’m sure you’ll all agree that she looks cute.

Sae’s popularity has leveled up with the request for her to be the Founding Festival committee president. A big step forward for her, Junichi convinces her to join.

Part 2: Wish

Being committee president takes commitment and a lot of time away from the boyfriend. Junichi feeling empty without her decides to make a documentary starring her and her journey to help get the festival running smoothly. Speaking of that, a great Rockumentary is Flight 666 w/ Iron Maiden. I enjoy going off-topic… anyways, Ayatsuji doesn’t clear the waivers for him to film her so she will not have a guest-starring role.

Lot of work, probably being exposed to dust from getting all the material from the closets makes Sae start to feel sick and she rests in a bed at the nurse’s office. Miya worries that Junichi might wanna pounce on the sick girl and checks up on Sae.

Back in action, Sae and the teacher film a segment. I’m sure Junichi was doing some zooming, maybe like in those ecchi shows where the boobs flop around as if they’re talking. Managing a budget is tough. Sae’s finding this out on the job, and feels a bit of pressure of the duties of a president. Junichi’s trying to think of a way to get her to talk to him about it, and Ayatsuji gives him some good advice – just ask. He asks her to use him as her strength, which gets her pepped up and ready to finish off things for the festival.

The festival appears to be a great success. Taking a breather after groping Miya, she and Junichi meet in the club room. She’s prepared a gift for him, so he asks what she wants. Apparently it’s been a long time since they’ve locked lips, so that will be her Christmas gift from him.

Fast-Forward to 8 years later. With a little girl and another on the way, Junichi and Sae are now happily married.

Pic Spam

Not a beary good pun, but a beary cute penguin outfit

Miya is rushing to make this fantasy a reality (chibi Miya was cute)

That moment when your stash is discovered

There’s a couple things I can speak positively of about this arc. First is Sae being less shy, as I unintentionally form a rhyme. Konno Hiromi still delivers the very soft-spoken, cutesy tones of Sae, but her performance in at least the early part of episode 9, being more sociable with Junichi made it feel like her character did indeed have some growth after her SS arc. The romantic conclusion is one of Plus’ better ones and the relationship seems to have done a 180 by the end, now with Sae being the more forward person. I can’t understand how they haven’t kiss so much in there 10 months of dating. The other thing I enjoyed was another time skip, which now means 4 out of the 6 arcs ended in marriage. Dare I say Kaoru’s and Rihoko’s relationships with Junichi didn’t end well? I always think those gaming posts I see about the “other endings” for like OrenoImo or Haganai are funny when you see all the girls have gotten preggers.

Besides those points of interest, at some point during episode 10, I started walking around and cleaning up my room. A combination of knowing SS Plus’ formula and just general boredom with the “being committee president is suffering” scenes, I only really re-watched the conclusion. I didn’t even think Nakata Jouji’s narration was anywhere near as enjoyable to listen to as it was in the first series. There wasn’t even a bath scene, c’mon! The most we got was a one-piece we’ve seen before, the Mrs. Clause outfit and Sae fondling Miya’s breasts (another big sign of Sae overcoming her shyness). There’s good elements to Sae’s arc, I just think that on the whole, it’s not really fun to watch I hope that the pattern I’ve figured out for SS+ of “Bad-Good-Bad-Good” follows thru with the last arc being “Good”.

Speaking of good, next up is my waifu, Morishima Haruka. Her arc was really great and fun and pretty kinky in spots which, as you might guess, I enjoy. Her arc convinced me to watch the rest of the series after having concerns that Amagami SS would be the same formula, wrinse, repeat, etc. The first episode is titled “Sexy” and that alone has me pretty excited about what might happen. We already saw the time skip in the original, so I’ll assume we’ll be sticking to the high school fun.